Rear Facing Car Seat

[Gray_Panther]

Hey 1addicts,

Just did some research and it looks like I can drive with a rear facing car seat for my newborn!

This just makes me even more pumped for when the 1er comes out of hibernation! I was never going to sell my E82, but this is just icing on the cake.

[b1aze]

Originally Posted by Gray_Panther

Hey 1addicts,

Just did some research and it looks like I can drive with a rear facing car seat for my newborn!

This just makes me even more pumped for when the 1er comes out of hibernation! I was never going to sell my E82, but this is just icing on the cake.

Do you have a specific model that you know fits? I will be needing to fit one in the next year or so along with my toddler’s forward facing seat. It’ll be tight but I think it’ll work!

[Gray_Panther]

Originally Posted by b1aze

Do you have a specific model that you know fits? I will be needing to fit one in the next year or so along with my toddler’s forward facing seat. It’ll be tight but I think it’ll work!

I haven't tried it out yet, but I have a Graco and it fits in my GTI. My GTI I feel is smaller overall, cabin and trunk both.

[$iriu$black]

Originally Posted by Gray_Panther

Hey 1addicts,

Just did some research and it looks like I can drive with a rear facing car seat for my newborn!

This just makes me even more pumped for when the 1er comes out of hibernation! I was never going to sell my E82, but this is just icing on the cake.

Hey Gray_Panther ,if it helps, I drove around w my newborn in my 1er from 0mos up to until about 3-4years old w a rear facing and eventually a front facing seat in the back. I still do now every now and then but mine is now just an HPDE car, with all the comforts of a street car.

Oh and I had a Nuna brand car seat. Small profile and perfect fit in the back.

[ShocknAwe]

We used the Cybex Aton Q. Fit perfectly, load leg added stability, and release mechanism was easy to operate without getting into the car.

After that we went straight to the Cybex Pallas M Fix SL once our daughter fit it properly.

Big fan of cybex seats. Pricey but they are just engineered better.

No problems with the 1er as a brat wagon.

[mackeroni]

Originally Posted by Gray_Panther

Hey 1addicts,

Just did some research and it looks like I can drive with a rear facing car seat for my newborn!

This just makes me even more pumped for when the 1er comes out of hibernation! I was never going to sell my E82, but this is just icing on the cake.

I was heartbroken when my wife insisted that I get rid of my two-seater 1980 Mazda RX-7 when our first son was born in 1982. I had found that his car seat could be squeezed into the luggage compartment and held in place with the luggage hold down straps. But she could not be convinced this was a good idea, so I traded the RX-7 for a 1983 4 door GLC Sport... the wimpiest car I ever owned.

Enjoy driving your kid around in the 1'er!

[johnny135]

Rear facing seat is a mission, especially one with a capsule that can be removed. Not on,y do you have to contort yourself to get the seat in there, the little one has to be manoeuvred as well. I tried it once and gave up. There may be slimmer profile ones as mentioned above that do fit, but my Britax one was not happening.

Front facing is a lot better, you can just move the front seat forward and plonk them in. Been doing this for 18 months and she loves it - asleep within 5 mins every time, coilovers and exhaust drone puts her to sleep!

[tracer bullet]

My kid's rear facing was too big to get into the car, even w/ the passenger seat slid 100% forward. Graco something. Great seat but had to go int he Saturn Vue instead which turned into an X3 over time. No issues w/ the X3 of course.

Looking forward to a front facing seat in the 1-er now that she's 3, and will hope she can get herself buckled in and out! It'll be fine until she can of course but that'll really make it simple.

[Gray_Panther]

IT FITS!!!
Tight fit to get the baby seat in the car, but once its in there is a lot of room to move around.
If you put the baby seat in the middle, there is even more room for the front seats to be slid back further. BMW made this car to perfection!!

[Piper1]

Originally Posted by mackeroni

I was heartbroken when my wife insisted that I get rid of my two-seater 1980 Mazda RX-7 when our first son was born in 1982. I had found that his car seat could be squeezed into the luggage compartment and held in place with the luggage hold down straps. But she could not be convinced this was a good idea, so I traded the RX-7 for a 1983 4 door GLC Sport... the wimpiest car I ever owned.

Enjoy driving your kid around in the 1'er!

At the time we were expecting, my daily was my 03 Z4 I too thought about the luggage compartment idea but wife's is a cj wrangler. Rather than getting rid of the z I leased a 2017 mustang. Hated it turned the lease in early for a jk wrangler unlimited lease. That lease is up next month so it's why I picked up a 2011 128 for a daily few months back now. So much room for the kiddo. And the z got highly modded all the while, win win lol.

[Esteban]

When my son was born in 1987 I was the lucky owner of a 1987 Supra Turbo with a back seat that I'm pretty sure was there for keeping insurance costs down, but was still able to fit a rear facing car seat. Had a blast in that car and I'm sure my son did too. Back seat of a 1er would fit a rear facing car seat just fine, as said above. The 1er can do it all (mostly).

[Piper1]

Originally Posted by Esteban

When my son was born in 1987 I was the lucky owner of a 1987 Supra Turbo with a back seat that I'm pretty sure was there for keeping insurance costs down, but was still able to fit a rear facing car seat. Had a blast in that car and I'm sure my son did too. Back seat of a 1er would fit a rear facing car seat just fine, as said above. The 1er can do it all (mostly).

My Z4 had been the replacement to my 87 supra which did have the back seat yanked out

[tracer bullet]

For seats in the middle, it'll probably work and I won't say not to try, but do be careful and certain it's locked in properly. Specifical BMW instructions say to not do that with out car. Again it may be just fine but be super sure the Latch points are close, it's not sloppy fitment, and so on.

I just bought a Diono Radian, it'll arrive later this week. For forward facing. It looks to have a very small base that I hope will fit into our buckets nicely. I spent hours and hours researching , reading and looking at pictures. Hope I'm right on this.

I found a fitment trick as well - if the kid seat won't go in with the passenger seat all the way forward, try the passenger seat 100% reclined. Then get the kid seat in, move the passenger seat forward, and then latch it all in place. I've had to do this a handful of times with our oversized Graco and that's the only way it works.

[tracer bullet]

Woot, the Diono Radian dropped right into the bucket shape of the back seat like it was made for it. At least side-side, it is not going to leave indentations at all that direction.

The angle of the car seat (the kid one) is more upright / closer to 90 degrees than the actual rear seat of the car itself, and so it'll press onto it kind of high up the seatback below the headrest (which I removed), and also towards the front of the seat lower cushion where a person's knees would be. But the seat is quite flat around these areas, with no obvious edges that look like they'll be an issue.

Overall I'm quite optimistic I can have that seat cinched down for a few years with no long term marks / damage to the car itself!

Hope that helps someone else in the future.

[mfindigital]

I used the middle seat even after being chastised here for it lol, when my daughter was still rear facing. The anchors are spaced perfectly and the seat was far more snug in the middle than in either of the passenger seats. Now that she's front facing, she fits perfect in the passenger rear seat with plenty of space for my 5'6 wife up front. My daughter is big, 90% percentile in height and still plenty of room for her legs to stick out (she's 3 and about 38 lbs, serious unit lol).

Now that I have baby #2 coming things are going to get trickier. I'm leaning towards buying a family beater when I need to lug the kids, probably a high mileage subaru or rx350.
My wifes merc e350 is plenty fine for two kids, but for the 1 series it'll be tough. I'm 6'1 and there isn't much space behind me for a car seat.

I highly recommend Pure Stage 2 for the kids, my daughter is a huge fan lol.

[dtla1]

Originally Posted by mfindigital

I highly recommend Pure Stage 2 for the kids, my daughter is a huge fan lol.

Great investment... for the kids, the kids.

[Gray_Panther]

I put a towel in to keep the leather. Gotta switch out the towel to a different color. The purple looks out of place.

[p][m]

Originally Posted by johnny135

Rear facing seat is a mission, especially one with a capsule that can be removed. Not on,y do you have to contort yourself to get the seat in there, the little one has to be manoeuvred as well. I tried it once and gave up. There may be slimmer profile ones as mentioned above that do fit, but my Britax one was not happening.

Front facing is a lot better, you can just move the front seat forward and plonk them in. Been doing this for 18 months and she loves it - asleep within 5 mins every time, coilovers and exhaust drone puts her to sleep!

Johnny135 which rear facing Britax were you trying?

I will be needing to get one and was pointing to a Britax SwingFix M I believe this is the model, since it turns 180° seems easier to get the baby in since E82 has only 2 doors and without turning 180° seems an impossible mission.

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by Gray_Panther

I put a towel in to keep the leather. Gotta switch out the towel to a different color. The purple looks out of place.

I used a small blanket. Gotta protect the leather.

Cute toes, btw.

[Gray_Panther]

Originally Posted by Esteban

I used a small blanket. Gotta protect the leather.

Cute toes, btw.

Thanks, it's from the fake baby doll in high school. I just like to drive around pretending to be a dad!

[94vg30de]

This is the Chicco Fit4 rear facing convertible set at Stage 3 (for my little 1-year-old guy) in my '11 128i convertible with the cold weather package. With the driver seat set for a 6-ft tall person, this is how everything looks. My wife is about 5'4" and can sit in the passenger seat as it currently is configured, but it's not something she'd want to do for a long distance.

I haven't tried sneaking the kid out of the seat with the top up yet, but it looks like it's going to involve me crawling into the back seat and then crawling back out while holding him. But with the top down, which is the way it's set for 85% of trips, should be just fine